Wk 5 · 2026
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys — Thu, Oct 8
Thu, Oct 8 ·
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
· Prime Video
Weather
This one is played indoors. There is nothing to forecast.
NFC South · no games yet
at
8:15pET
DAL -3.5 · total 52.5 DraftKings
Ratings differential DAL by 3.0
NFC East · no games yet
What is at stake
An NFC game between two divisions. It decides neither division, but conference record is the tiebreaker that follows head-to-head, and both of these are chasing the same 7 NFC playoff places. Division standings.
What the ratings imply
The differential above is arithmetic on two published numbers:
The Gridiron King’s 2026 final efficiency ratings, plus
1.7 points of home field.
It is not a projection, a value, an edge or a lean, and nothing on this site
compares it with the betting line to tell you one is better. Until 2026
games are played it is last season’s measurement of two rosters that have
been through a draft and a free-agency window since.
Efficiency · 2026 ratings
Efficiency margin
Offense
Defense
Points / game
Points allowed / game
Opponent-adjusted ratings from The Gridiron King’s 2026 final numbers. Bars share a scale within each row, so the two lengths are comparable; the brighter side is the better of the two, and a longer bar is the better number — including the rows where a lower figure is the good one. Pace is the exception: it is how fast a team plays, not how well, so neither side is lit and a longer bar there means only more plays.
Team stats
The box-score store these rows are built from has not been produced for this league yet, so no preview carries points and yards for and against. The form, trend and series blocks below are built from this site’s own files and are not affected.
Buccaneers form
No completed games on record.
Cowboys form
No completed games on record.
Buccaneers this season
No graded games yet this season. Lines are captured before kickoff and graded when a game goes final, so these records start at Week 1.
Cowboys this season
No graded games yet this season. Lines are captured before kickoff and graded when a game goes final, so these records start at Week 1.
Lines are captured from ESPN's board before kickoff and locked at kickoff, so an in-play price cannot overwrite the number a game is graded against.
Common opponents · 3
| Opponent | Buccaneers | Cowboys |
|---|---|---|
| Packers NFC | vs Wk 4 · scheduled preview | at Wk 6 · scheduled preview |
| Ravens AFC | at Wk 14 · scheduled preview | N Wk 3 · scheduled preview |
| Rams NFC | vs Wk 17 · scheduled preview | at Wk 15 · scheduled preview |
Open these two in the
comparison tool for every shared and unshared opponent.
Series history · 2006–2026
Since 2006, Cowboys leads 9–3 · Cowboys has won the last 2
12 meetings
in 2006–2026 · average margin
6.4 points toward Cowboys
| Yr | Date | Result | Site | Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2024-12-22 | Buccaneers 24 — 26 Cowboys | at DAL | Cowboys |
| 2022 | 2023-01-16 | Cowboys 31 — 14 Buccaneers | at TB | Cowboys playoffs |
| 2022 | 2022-09-11 | Buccaneers 19 — 3 Cowboys | at DAL | Buccaneers |
| 2021 | 2021-09-09 | Cowboys 29 — 31 Buccaneers | at TB | Buccaneers |
| 2018 | 2018-12-23 | Buccaneers 20 — 27 Cowboys | at DAL | Cowboys |
| 2016 | 2016-12-18 | Buccaneers 20 — 26 Cowboys | at DAL | Cowboys |
| 2015 | 2015-11-15 | Cowboys 6 — 10 Buccaneers | at TB | Buccaneers |
| 2012 | 2012-09-23 | Buccaneers 10 — 16 Cowboys | at DAL | Cowboys |
| 2011 | 2011-12-17 | Cowboys 31 — 15 Buccaneers | at TB | Cowboys |
| 2009 | 2009-09-13 | Cowboys 34 — 21 Buccaneers | at TB | Cowboys |
| 2008 | 2008-10-26 | Buccaneers 9 — 13 Cowboys | at DAL | Cowboys |
| 2006 | 2006-11-23 | Buccaneers 10 — 38 Cowboys | at DAL | Cowboys |
Buccaneers leaders 2025 regular season
| Passing | Baker Mayfield QB #6 | 343/543, 3693 YDS, 26 TD, 11 INT |
| Teddy Bridgewater QB #5 | 8/15, 62 YDS | |
| Rushing | Bucky Irving RB #7 | 173 CAR, 588 YDS, 1 TD |
| Rachaad White RB #1 | 132 CAR, 572 YDS, 4 TD | |
| Baker Mayfield QB #6 | 55 CAR, 382 YDS, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Emeka Egbuka WR #2 | 63 REC, 938 YDS, 6 TD |
| Cade Otton TE #88 | 59 REC, 572 YDS, 1 TD | |
| Sterling Shepard WR #15 | 39 REC, 371 YDS, 1 TD | |
| Mike Evans WR #5 | 30 REC, 368 YDS, 3 TD |
Defense
| Tackles | Lavonte David LB #54 | 114 |
| SirVocea Dennis LB #8 | 101 | |
| Tykee Smith S #23 | 100 | |
| Sacks | Yaya Diaby LB #0 | 7 |
| Vita Vea DT #50 | 4.5 | |
| Lavonte David LB #54 | 3.5 | |
| Interceptions | Jamel Dean CB #35 | 3 |
| Antoine Winfield Jr. S #31 | 2 | |
| Jacob Parrish CB #25 | 2 |
Cowboys leaders 2025 regular season
| Passing | Dak Prescott QB #4 | 404/600, 4552 YDS, 30 TD, 10 INT |
| Joe Milton III QB #10 | 15/24, 183 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT | |
| Rushing | Javonte Williams RB #33 | 252 CAR, 1201 YDS, 11 TD |
| Malik Davis RB #20 | 52 CAR, 250 YDS, 2 TD | |
| Dak Prescott QB #4 | 53 CAR, 177 YDS, 2 TD | |
| Receiving | George Pickens WR #3 | 93 REC, 1429 YDS, 9 TD |
| CeeDee Lamb WR #88 | 75 REC, 1077 YDS, 3 TD | |
| Jake Ferguson TE #87 | 82 REC, 600 YDS, 8 TD | |
| Ryan Flournoy WR #19 | 40 REC, 475 YDS, 4 TD |
Defense
| Tackles | Shemar James LB #50 | 91 |
| Kenneth Murray Jr. LB #59 | 81 | |
| DaRon Bland CB #26 | 73 | |
| Sacks | Jadeveon Clowney DE #90 | 8.5 |
| James Houston LB #53 | 5.5 | |
| Osa Odighizuwa DT #92 | 3.5 | |
| Interceptions | Donovan Wilson S #6 | 2 |
| Quinnen Williams DT #92 | 1 | |
| Markquese Bell S #14 | 1 |
These are regular-season totals for
the season named on each card — the players who led that team that year,
taken from ESPN's team leaders. That list is keyed to the season, not to today's
roster, so a leader who has since signed elsewhere, been traded or retired still
appears against the year he earned it; the
roster
pages and the depth chart on each team page are where the current squad is.
A team switches to this season's numbers once it has played a game.